Americans United for Separation of Church and State
www.au.org
Senate Scuttles Marriage Amendment
Religious Right's Constitutional Scheme Falls Far Short Of Votes Needed To
Advance To Senate Floor
In a major defeat for the Religious Right, the Senate decided today not to
bring up the Federal Marriage Amendment for a floor vote.
Only 48 senators voted to bring S.J. Res.40 to the floor, far short of the
60 votes needed. Fifty senators voted against cloture.
Opponents of the amendment were jubilant. Speaking at a news conference on
Capitol Hill, the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United
for Separation of Church and State, said the Senate did the right thing.
"Today's vote," said Lynn, "is a powerful repudiation of bigotry. It
rejects unnecessary Constitution tampering and is a strong rebuke to the
Religious Right.
"A serious threat to the separation of church and state lurked in the
shadows of this debate," Lynn continued. "From the very beginning,
supporters of the marriage amendment have used religious language to
describe their goals. Marriage was 'sacred,' noted President Bush, and it
was a 'sacrament' according to Sen. Frist. The preservation of the sacred
and promotion of sacraments is the province of religious institutions, not
government bodies.
"This unfortunate debate," Lynn said, "was spawned by an unholy matrimony
between political leaders with an eye on the ballot box and Religious Right
leaders determined to win support for a mean-spirited and divisive
proposal. The result was a floor vote designed to score political points,
not advance sound policy. Now it's time for a divorce. The Senate needs to
move on to more important matters instead of trying to curry favor with
religious extremists."
A broad array of civil liberties, civil rights and mainstream religious
groups oppose the amendment. It is supported by James Dobson, Jerry
Falwell, Pat Robertson and other Religious Right leaders. The U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops and a few other conservative religious
bodies have also endorsed the measure.
Advocates say the measure is intended only to keep state and federal courts
from requiring that same-sex couples be allowed to wed. But critics insist
the amendment jeopardizes many civil rights protections extended to gay
people by state and local laws. Church-state separation activists say the
plan entangles religion with government by writing the marriage doctrines
and rituals of the majority faiths into the Constitution.
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington,
D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the
importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
www.au.org
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